HUNDREDS of mourners turned out to pay their respects to Gurkha war hero Lachhiman Gurung VC this morning.


Fellow Victoria Cross holders Tul Bahadur Pun and Johnson Beharry, and George Cross holder Matt Croucher, were among those who attended a moving ceremony at Hounslow Civic Centre.

Gurkhas and members of the local Nepalese community also turned out in force.

Mr Gurung, who was awarded the highest military honour for the incredible bravery he displayed during the Second World War, died peacefully, aged 93, at Charing Cross Hospital.

He had lived in Hounslow since coming to England in 2008 and recently moved into the Chiswick War Memorial Homes, where his widow Mana Maya Gurung remains.

Hounslow Mayor Colin Ellar said: "Mr Gurung carried similar disabilities to another hero, Lord Horatio Nelson, and likewise he was a formidable character. I would describe him as fiery and even feisty because when he wanted to do something he was unstoppable.

"He was always willing to take part in comemmorative events and graced many fundraisers for military charities. He was an inspiration and a father figure to his community.

"His last public engagement was at the War Memorial in Feltham on Remembrance Sunday.

"It was a bitterly cold and rainy day and people tried to persuade him to rest that afternoon but Mr Gurung, who had had a busy and exhausting week, wouldn't let illness or the weather stop him from doing his duty."

Colonel David Hayes CBE, of the Brigade of Gurkhas, said: Mr Gurung's life was a journey of courage of the most intense degree established on a selfless commitment to others.

"The warrior blood that courses through the veins of the Gurkhas serving in Afghanistan today is the same blood as that of the generations of Gurkhas who have served before.

"That indomitable spirit of today's Gurkhas is the legacy of Mr Gurung. It's this spirit for which we should show gratitude and remember him."

Mr Gurung was one of only 30 living holders of the George and Victoria crosses.

He was awarded the honour after holding off Japanese troops in Burma for four hours, while serving in the 8th Gurkha Rifles, despite being being blinded in one eye and having his arm shattered when a grenade exploded in his hand.

Lance Corporal Matt Croucher GC, who was given the George Cross after throwing himself on an exploding grenade to protect colleagues in Afghanistan, said: "What Mr Gurung did is absolutely outstanding. It makes my action look a lot smaller in some respects. It took me seven seconds to earn my cross, compared with four hours for him."

Mr Gurung's wife Mana Maya Gurung, two of his sons, Resham Lal Gurung and Krishna Bahadur Gurung, and his grandson Chitra Gurung and Amrita Gurung, who cared for him in his later years, all attended a private burial at Chiswick New Ceremony following the ceremony.